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PacSun Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

by Rebecca Cringean — April 11, 2016

Once upon a time, PacSun was where every high school surfer or, let’s face it, every mall rat, wanna-be-skater, shopped for Hurley board shorts, Billabong tees, Quiksilver flip flops and bright yellow plastic sunglass frames. But, with proliferous internet sales from competing sites and a more street smart approach to cool casualwear taking over the market, PacSun found itself and its sunny disposition on the outs with kids.

PacSun opened the next chapter of their retail life as a slightly more sinister, streetwear spot where hipsters could grab Fear of God, Riot Society and Young & Reckless tees along with their mom-approved Volcom gear. Gotta keep up to date, after all. But, when even that didn’t really boost sales, PacSun announced last week that it has opened yet another chapter in its lifespan, this time Chapter 11.

As part of the restructuring plan, PacSun, with the help of $20 million from Golden Gate Capital, will go from being a publicly traded company to a privately held company, converting 65% of their debt into new equity. An additional $100 million from Wells Fargo will help with cash flow. "PacSun will use Chapter 11 to address two structural issues—very high occupancy costs and maturing debt,” says a company statement. “The high occupancy costs resulted from rapid store growth during the high rent period prior to 2008."

A message from PacSun President and CEO Gary H. Schoenfeld, posted on the company’s website on April 7th, states that “during this process, we intend to operate business as usual, with no plans at this time to close any stores. All PacSun stores nationwide will remain open on normal schedules and continue to operate in the ordinary course without interruption.” Schoenfeld then thanks customers and employees for standing by while PacSun “transitions into the New PacSun.” Oh, is that what they’re calling bankruptcy these days?